Peak hour flights may get costlier with new AAI plan

Peak hour flights may get costlier with new AAI plan

News

1. The Govt. has been planning a proposal to impose additional charges on airlines for operating flights during peak hours.

Important Facts

2. Current provisions

• At present, leading fees paid by the airlines are determined by the aircraft. It does not vary according to the time of the day
• Airlines are awarded slots for summer and winter schedules on a first-come-first basis and also historicity of slots.

3. Peak-hour pricing- Heathrow Airport case study

• Heathrow introduced peak hour pricing in 1972 to check air traffic congestion.
• It further levies a steep penalty on airlines that fail to be punctual.

4. Rationale behind peak hour pricing

• The move will spread demand throughout the day
• It would help reduce air traffic congestion
• It would enhance airport capacity
• It would help avoid flight delays.

5. Criticisms

• Airlines have criticized the proposal and opined that this would not help n reducing air traffic congestion. It would only impose additional charge on airlines holding peak hour slots.

6 .The Airport Authority of India has appointed a consultancy firm to prepare a national strategy for airport development. The plan would be prepared to cater to the growth in traffic demand in next 30 years.

7. India is the 7^th country to adopt Central Traffic Air Flow management system (C-ATFm)

• The system uses sophisticated computers to calculate exactly where are aircraft will be at any when moment. It also predicts when the demand for airspace or airport is exceeding the declared capacity
• This ensures predictability of operations and help airlines to save cost by burning fuel due to delays.